Walking time: 2021.3

Walking method: self-driving

Address: Nanjing Niushou Mountain Scenic Area

Tickets: 98 yuan

Walking routes in the park: East Gate--Foding Front Garden--Foding Temple--Ming Dynasty Cliff Stone Carvings--Niutou Zen Cultural Park--Foding Tower--Foding Palace--Wuyou Gate Square--Foding Front Garden--East Gate

The park is rich in vegetation, and the imposing mountains and forests also have beautiful scenery.

Flowers bloom one after another in spring, fresh and beautiful. A Tang-style pavilion and corridor at the corner is the stopping point for tourist minibuses.

Walk slowly upwards, talk, have a good mood, and have a relaxed pace.

After a corner, the Buddha Top Tower suddenly appeared in front of you. The Buddha Top Tower standing on the top of the mountain is one of the landmark buildings in the Buddha Top Holy Land. It is also a landmark building on Niushou Mountain. It can be seen from any angle of the park and even in many areas of Jiangning.

These two pure trees on the roadside immediately attracted me. It was especially clean and had an arrogant look. But the feeling presented by the photo now is somewhat different from what I saw at the time.

Halfway up the mountain, there is a pavement-style "Chaotian Que" archway. The tower built halfway up the mountain is just enough for tourists to rest, adjust and continue climbing.

The "Ming Dynasty Cliff Stone Carvings" were discovered on the road sign. They made temporary adjustments to leave the road and choose a mountain path to go to the "Ming Dynasty Cliff Stone Carvings" first.

It is speculated that this mountain path was the climbing path of Niushou Mountain before large-scale development. The road is steep. Such hiking trails suddenly make walking fun.

When I was about to reach the summit, I saw this stone carving located on the north cliff of Tushiyan, the east peak of Niushou Mountain. The stone carving area is not large. A total of 5 Buddhist niches have been dug on the cliff, 3 on the north wall and 2 on the east wall. The number of statues carved in each of the five shrines varies, with a total of 133 statues large and small. A statue of Sakyamuni is carved in a niche in the middle of the stone wall.

Four Sanskrit characters are also engraved on both sides of the shrine.

Not far from the stone carvings is Niutou Zen Cultural Park.

Niutou Zen Cultural Park was built on the site of Hongjue Temple. The pavilions surround the green lawn. On one side of the lawn and next to the mountain is the Hongjue Temple Tower.

The core of Niutou Zen Cultural Park is the oldest existing imitation wooden brick tower in Nanjing-the Hongjue Temple Tower. Hongjue Temple is the birthplace of Niutou Sect. It was first built in the second year of Tianjian (503) of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. It was rebuilt during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty. The temple is now destroyed and the tower remains. In the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the name of Emperor Qianlong's Hongli, it was renamed Hongjue Temple.

The 45-meter-high Hongjue Temple Tower is a very typical Jiangnan pavilions style brick and wood tower, with an octagonal exterior, four sides interior, and seven levels and eight sides. This ancient tower is now under protection, and we can only look up at it in appearance.

The courtyard adopts a wooden structure building in the traditional Jiangnan garden style, and the building fully reflects the Tang style and ancient architecture style.

This ancient tower stands quietly here, looking at all living beings in the world from generation to generation, year after year.

You can see the Buddha Top Tower and Buddha Top Palace on the promenade, as well as the people coming and going. However, there are few tourists here, and there is a Zen sense of "tranquility" and "simplicity". We chose to take a nap here to avoid the flow of people and enjoy the tranquility. Share the dry food we brought with us, and also reduce the burden on our partners who have been climbing with heavy loads.

Leave Niutou Zen Cultural Park and head straight to the big square at your feet. Look up at the simple Hongjue Tower in the main square.

It will be the big dish of Niushou Mountain soon...